Dashboard Replacement

During this summer the veneer on the dashboard started to crack a bit more, so I decided to replace it with a Leven alloy item. After reading up on www.chimaerapages.com and using Steve Heaths bible I set off removing the old dash and putting the new shiny one in...Here's a bolt by bolt guide on how I completed it-

Dash top removal:

1. Unscrew the passenger "glove box" under the dash
2. Find and remove the three elusive bolts that hold the dash top on
3. Now try and move the dash top into a position where you can get the right hand side bolt to come free, this was completed with a lot of swearing and sweating

Dashboard removal:

1. Work your way along the dials and switches removing them from the old dash one-by-one and reconnecting them separated from the dash
2. Unscrew the screws that hold the heater controls to the dash bottom, keep hold of the bolts that are used as spacers between the controls and the dash bottom
3. Now you should be able to lift the old dashboard from the dash bottom
4. There are three small nuts and bolts that hold the heater controls to the dash board, remove these and carefully separate the two
5. Carefully tip the dash forward to remove the wires from the MIL and Inhibitor LEDs (see pics) along with the nylon nut that holds the PCB of the main indicator/main beam/hand brake/frost LEDs
6. Now you can remove the dash!

Radio panel removal:

1. Remove the radio
2. Remove the radio cage
3. Remove the four self tapers that hold the panel on
4. As with the dashboard remove all the switches and alarm LED one by one, reconnecting them away from the panel

New dashboard preparation

1. On the old dashboard make a note of the position of the bolt that is glued in between the tacho and speedo, mark on the new dash the exact position and remove from the old dash
   
2. Remove the glued in LEDs, be very careful, seen as it was 9 year old glue holding them in it had gone quite brittle, so with a little persuading they came free from their holders
3. Remove the LED holders from the old dash, I used a screwdriver to carefully lever off the locking thingies around the holders
4. Now transfer the LED holders to the new dash, I reused the locking thingies, placing the dash on a suitable bit of cloth and using a suitable sized socket from my socket set and a suitable sized wooden mallet the locking things where persuaded back onto the LED holders! Make sure the holders are correctly aligned before striking the final fixing blow!
5. Once all the holders are in place, time to glue! Put a few dabs around the LEDs and put back in their holders. Glue the bolt back on in the place you marked earlier
6. Now leave and don't touch until the glue has fully cured

New radio panel preparation:

1. Mark on the rear of the new radio panel exactly where the two pieces of angled steel are glued on the old radio panel
2. Remove the two steel angles and nut that are glued to the old panel
3. Glue the three items to the new panel and leave to until fully cured

Fitting the new dashboard:

1. Quite easy really, do the steps completed in the removal in reverse!
2. Watch out for the LEDs around the heater controls, they're a bit of a snug fit, also the hole for the top small nut and bolt that hold the heater controls to the dash was a bit out of alignment on my dash (so I didn't refit it, the blower switch does a good job of holding it all together and the bolt hole is hidden by the top dash panel)
3. I found it a good time to straighten all the metal work that hold the clocks in on the dashboard, sort out all the i.c.e wiring.

Here's some pics of the wiring and dash (helped me when reconnecting the new dash):

Inhibitor LED Wiring:

Tachometer Wiring:

MIL LED Wiring:
Knowing TVRs the wire colours may change, so I accept no responsibility if you wire your dash up incorrectly, should have taken your own photos!

As you can see the PCB won't fit through the hole! Time to *gently* break the LED out of its holder:

Here's the results...


...goes well with all the other shiny Leven accessories IMHO :)